The expulsion of Kosovo's Roma
After the Kosovo war, many Roma, Ashkali and Egyptians, accused by Albanians of siding with Serbia, are driven from their homes; thousands end up in camps, some on land poisoned by lead.
- Abuses against Serbs and Roma in the New Kosovo — Human Rights Watch (1999)
- I Met Lucky People: The Story of the Romani Gypsies — Yaron Matras, Allen Lane (2014)
Kosovo had a large and long-settled Romani population, including Albanian-speaking groups who call themselves Ashkali or Egyptians. When NATO’s intervention ended Serbian rule in June 1999, returning Kosovo Albanians took revenge on those they accused of collaborating with Serb forces; Roma were attacked, their homes burned, and whole neighbourhoods, such as the large Romani mahala of Mitrovica, were destroyed. Human Rights Watch documented killings, abductions and expulsions. Tens of thousands fled. Some of the displaced were housed by the UN in camps in northern Mitrovica next to a lead-smelting complex, where children suffered lead poisoning for years before the camps were closed.
- Abuses against Serbs and Roma in the New Kosovo — Human Rights Watch (1999)
- I Met Lucky People: The Story of the Romani Gypsies — Yaron Matras, Allen Lane (2014)
Why it matters today
Kosovo showed how Roma can be caught between other peoples' conflicts and blamed by both sides. Many displaced families never returned, and thousands of Kosovo Roma still live in Serbia, Montenegro or Western Europe, often with uncertain legal status.